Proposed legislation targets human trafficking

9:38 AM,
Apr. 29, 2014

Written by

Kirsten Powers

Minnesota brings many things to mind - open prairies, 10,000 lakes and Midwestern values. Yet even in America's heartland, the most wretched of crimes, human trafficking, is a growing menace.

Last year, the FBI identified Minnesota as one of the nation's 13 largest centers for child sex trafficking. The Women's Funding Network says that monthly, about 200 adolescents are sold for sex there through the Internet and escort services. In 2011, Minnesota courts had nearly 400 trafficking-related convictions.

"People have to realize that this is the third biggest criminal enterprise in the ...